Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest British Fighters

2. Leon Edwards

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Edwards, whom I had No. 1 on my list, swapping positions with the man ahead of him. And the current UFC welterweight king has rewarded my belief, as I picked him to upset the seemingly unbeatable titan Kamaru Usman, which he did with an instantly iconic head kick knockout. Edwards is a ridiculously skilled, refined fighter with a smooth, textbook perfect kickboxing style that reminds me of MMA's version of the great boxing legend Pernell Whitaker, a comparison helped by both men being southpaws. Being a highly diligent martial artist with an amazing natural ability to master techniques, Edwards also developed into a very good wrestler and BJJ practitioner over the years, with especially punishing ground-and-pound. Add to this his endless cardio and one of the most brilliant minds in MMA, and it's little surprise that since he dropped a close decision to that same Usman in 2015 as a mere 23-year-old, Edwards hasn't lost since, winning 10 times, including a submission of Albert Tumenov and clear decisions over Vicente Luque, Bryan Barbarena, Donald Cerrone, Gunnar Nelson and Nate Diaz. It was an impressive string of victories, but of course, the crown jewel was knocking out Usman for the title. Some will call this a fluke, as Usman was winning the contest on the cards and merely had to survive for another minute to retain. However, consider that Edwards had clearly won the first round, and if not for Herb Dean allowing Usman to get away with endlessly grabbing the cage and holding on to Edwards' gloves in Round 3, the fight may well have been tied 2-2 going into the final stanza. That's a close fight, poor refereeing aside, and with Edwards having just turned 31 and only getting better, the trilogy fight between Edwards and Usman may well go the way of the Brit again. If so, Edwards may well improve to first in a future update of this list.

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